Voices: In politics, it's the year of the woman

Apr. 28, 2014
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Sen. Mary Landrieu. / Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images

by Paul Singer, USA TODAY

by Paul Singer, USA TODAY

The 2014 battle for the Senate stars a number of female candidates in key races, and it is quite possible that the Senate will be the better off because of it.

This year, women are competing in some of the nation's most critical electoral matchups. Sens. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Kay Hagan of North Carolina are two of the most endangered Democrats in the Senate. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire just saw her re-election bid transformed into a high-profile affair with the entry of former senator Scott Brown, R-Mass., into the race.

Republican Terri Lynn Land, the former Michigan secretary of State, is running neck and neck with Democratic Rep. Gary Peters for the right to replace retiring Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. If she wins, it would be a huge pickup for Republicans. Democrats have dispatched women to try to capture two red Senate seats: Michelle Nunn is the Democratic choice for an open Senate seat in Georgia, and Alison LunderganGrimes is challenging Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky.

And in West Virginia, Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller has decided to retire, creating a rare woman-vs.-woman Senate campaign, in which Republican Rep. Shelly Moore Capito is considered a heavy favorite against Democratic Secretary of State Natalie Tennant.

It has been well documented that American politics has become more and more polarized and partisan. But many of the contests listed above are races for a centrist electorate, and the female candidates are mostly running from the middle, not the fringes.

This pattern suggests that some of these women may strengthen a pragmatic woman-centered bloc that is emerging as a key force in passing major legislation in the Senate. The government shutdown last year featured men in leading roles: House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama unable to satisfy or subdue the vocal minority led by Sen. Ted Cruz.

In the end, a deal was brokered largely by Senate women, including Republicans Susan Collins of Maine, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Democrats Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray of Washington.

And female senators have taken the lead on other key measures. Landrieu was critical in passing legislation to fix the federal flood insurance program. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., won unanimous passage of a bill to make it easier to punish sexual assault in the military, after a prolonged debate with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who wanted an even tougher bill. Murray worked out a two-year budget deal with Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that was at first deemed impossible.

And when the federal budget runs out again in September, it will be up to Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski of Maryland to make the deal with her House counterpart, Republican Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky, to fund the government for another year.

This urge to legislate is partly a byproduct of the fact that many of these women represent purple states, where their constituents seem wary of hyper-partisan politics. But part of it also is that they have intentionally pursued personal relationships with one another, notes Debbie Walsh of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Through regular dinner meetings and other relationship-building efforts, Senate women have built friendships and established mutual respect, while male politicians frequently complain that such cross-party rapport no longer exists in Washington.

So we'll watch the 2014 elections to see which party controls the Senate. But which gender controls the Senate may matter more.